Fall 2010 Comics Preview

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Batman's relaunch. The Walking Dead. Spider-Man. Assassin's Creed. Halo. It's going to be a busy few months - here's what's on the way.

By Richard George & Jesse Schedeen

There are a lot of comic books out there. A lot. And it's impossible for you to not only have the money and means to buy all the ones you want, but it's also a bit of a pain in the ass to remember all the cool stuff that's coming up. Remember that thing you heard about that one time that sounded totally amazing? When's that coming out again?

Our seasonal previews are here to run through big events in the industry, to remind you what big changes are coming up, remind you what books are worth noting, and to ideally help you find jumping on points that you can use to get into some of these books that you might not be reading. Comic books aren't TV shows or movies - they keep going and going and going... It's tough to find a starting point, but hopefully we can point you in the right direction. Look for the "Key Release" notation to find a suitable starting point. In some cases, we're suggesting you go back quite a bit to make sure you get the best experience.

Because there are so many books, we've tried to group as many of them as possible. We'll give a general overview of the concept and then run through what we consider to be "critical" to that concept or franchise. In some instances, we simply let a book occupy an entire category. Some things don't play well with others.

There are few things worth noting before we get started. These are not reviews. This is us taking a look at September through November, telling you what caught our eye. As always, we'll be back with our weekly review column to give our thoughts on the final product. For now, we're just trying to show you the interesting stuff, and in a few cases we'll be sure to let you know what we're already digging, just in case you have any doubts.

Also, these are in no particular order. Some of the big stuff (Batman) comes up early. Some of the big stuff (Avengers) comes up later. Try not to start any conspiracy theories, would you?

Last thing - we want to know what you're looking forward to - or not. Does something sound awesome? How many of these books are you eager to buy? Was something not on the list that you want to tell people about? Roll down to the bottom where our comments are, and chat away.

It was just a few months ago, in our Summer Preview feature, that we were discussing the big changes coming to the Batman franchise, particularly as Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne was about to launch. Jump forward a bit and now we're looking at another shake-up for the Dark Knight – although this one is a bit more significant. New titles are launching, creative teams are shifting and big things are coming as Grant Morrison steers the franchise in yet another bold direction. We'd be hard-pressed not to point this one out.

Buffy: Season 8 has been one of Dark Horse's most popular books for several years now, appealing to all those Buffy fans who crave the further adventures of the vampire slayer and her Scooby Gang pals. Season 8 finally draws to a close this fall as Joss Whedon returns to pen the final arc. The battle lines have been drawn. Twilight stands revealed. All that remains is one final conflict before Season 8 wraps. Expect plenty of excitement and surprises, and maybe a few teases for the eventual Season 9.